A Space to Write - A Space to Paint

My Studio.

After years of being stuck in a corner, I finally have some space of my own. No longer do I have to listen to what my son assures me IS actually music, while I try to concentrate on writing. Music is a mood setter and I have discovered heavy metal doesn’t enhance the mood in a book about a sensitive young girl trying to bring a

little magic to her world.
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No longer do I have to take half an hour to set up my easel and all my paints only to have to pack them away again half way through the painting so there is room in my

corner to do the other things I need to do. That is the fastest way to lose inspiration.

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Now, I can write to my own soundtrack and leave my current painting works out and still have

room to move. It’s like heaven!

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The studio still has a few touches to go before it is completely finished;

· I have to install the gallery hanging system to display my paintings.

· I still need to add book shelves on the wall above the work bench for my resource texts and favourite books.

· I also need to rebuild and update my old desktop computer for writing.

· And I have to find a bigger rug for the floor and curtains.

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But it is workable already and I opened my studio for business over the weekend. It has most of what I need. A wet area to paint, working bench space to sketch and paint watercolours, a desk to write, a light box to help transfer sketches onto canvas or watercolour paper, storage cupboards, a heater, a stereo, a coffee machine and privacy.

What more could you ask for?

I have even been productive over the last three days. I have finished the first painting from the studio and have two more partially completed.

My first painting is titled;

Opals, a watercolour on watercolour canvas.

My two partially finished works are seen below.

Pickets by the Lake - Oils on canvas & Kookaburra Sits in the Silver Birch - Oils on slate

A Place Of My Own

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For the last few years, my own little place in the house has been the back corner of our sun-room. It is four metres long but less than two metres wide, separated from the rest of the room by a couple of bookcases. My “office” is actually a step up from what I used to have so I can’t really complain.
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Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on my writing because the other three quarters of the room is taken up with my wife’s sewing table and the kid’s electronic corner. This techno-marvel contains the stereo, the latest in games machines including Rock Band for the Play Station - complete with guitars and drums and the kid’ computer. It is a rare occasion when I am in the room by myself. I’ve also come to the conclusion that there isn’t a single activity my boys enjoy that does not involve lots of noise.
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The other problem with my current work space is that there is not enough room to set up my painting equipment and leave it out until the project is completed. Packing every thing up at the end of a session is a pain in the creative process.
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Now for the good news. The council have approved the development application for my new studio. We ordered it today and it should be ready in four to five weeks. I can hide up the back yard in my studio to write in peace and set up my paints with a table to cut matt-boards and for my light-box. I’ll even have enough room to run some small art workshops and to set up an evening writer’s group.
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Life is good. A place of my own!
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